Formula 1 – Emilia Romagna Grand Prix race RECAP: Start time, leaderboard and lap-by-lap updates as Max Verstappen holds off Lando Norris for the victory

Max Verstappen – 161Charles Leclerc – 113Sergio Perez – 107Lando Norris – 101Carlos Sainz – 93Oscar Piastri – 53George Russell – 44Lewis Hamilton – 35Fernando Alonso – 33Yuki Tsunoda – 15

Charles Leclerc gets a massive ovation from the Tifosi as he comes out to step on the third step.

But as we have heard so many times in recent years it’s time for the Dutch and Austrian national anthems for Verstappen and Red Bull.

The cameras show the podium sitters in the cool-down room where they are seen discussing Sergio Perez and Lewis Hamilton’s excursions into the gravel during the race.

It’s a podium, I’m very happy when we win and we didn’t quite make it. We tried very hard to put pressure on Lando but later on they were incredibly quick.

The race pace was strong. We were missing on the front straight. We are looking good for the rest of the season and it’s incredible to finish on the podium in front of the Tifosi.

One or two more laps I would have had him. I fought hard till the end of the last lap.

He was better in the first stint and we had a much better second half.

We are at the point now where we are in the position of Ferrari and Red Bull. It’s business as usual, it’s just we’re fighting for first or second now. It’s frustrating not to win but it’s what we should expect.

The whole race I had to go flat out. On the medium tyres were strong but on the hard tyres it was difficult to manage and I had no grip for the last 10 laps.

It is difficult when the tyres don’t work anymore and you have to go flat out. I’m very happy to win here today.

We changed a lot on the car (from practice). We didn’t have much information for the race which is why maybe we struggled on the hard tyres.

Max Verstappen jumps into the arms of his team as he celebrates a victory which extends his lead at the top of the drivers’ championship.

He shares a hug with his close friend Lando Norris, who pushed him right at the end.

The Ferrari fans in attendance will be happy to see Charles Leclerc complete the podium – and it is a result that puts him ahead of Sergio Perez in second in the championship.

Leclerc has shown great consistency this season, though his wait for a victory continues.

Max Verstappen sounds very relieved on the radio saying he had to work hard for that victory.

Lando Norris meanwhile tells his team they were unlucky and ‘lost too much time at the beginning’.

Charles Leclerc finishes third to give the Tifosi something to smile about.

The rest of the points finishers are Oscar Piastri, Carlos Sainz, Lewis Hamilton, George Russell, Sergio Perez, Lance Stroll and Yuki Tsunoda.

Russell might have lost two points for pitting late on, but he gains one back for clinching the fastest lap.

Lando Norris is honing in on Max Verstappen, within a second, but he is not close enough as the Dutchman crosses the line to win the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix – the 59th of his career!

Brilliant effort by Lando Norris but he can’t repeat his feat from the Miami Grand Prix.

Lap 62: Agonising for Norris! He is not giving up and pushing the life out of his McLaren car as he almost runs into the gravel as he desperately tries to cling onto that Red Bull.

Norris missed DRS by 0.049 seconds as they enter the last lap.

Lap 61: Norris still finding a little bit of time but it will take a big effort to get in that DRS zone and then be quick enough to pass the Dutchman who has reported that he is out of battery.

Meanwhile there is a lovely move by Esteban Ocon for 14th on Valterri Bottas.

Fernando Alonso comes in for another stop putting on the soft tyres.

Lap 60: Lando Norris is on the radio telling his team he has lost all grip now.

Max Verstappen only has a 1.5 second lead but he looks comfortable.

Lap 59: George Russell is flying and has closed the gap to Lewis Hamilton to 13 seconds – but he won’t be best pleased at having to give up a position to his team-mate.

Meanwhile, Lance Stroll did get past Yuki Tsunoda for ninth, with both set to finish in the points.

Lap 58: Lando Norris has a huge snap of oversteer coming out of the Tamburello chicane.

He then has a jolt on the exit of Villeneuve over the kerbs. That would have lost him a little bit of time.

This will be a straight battle, there is no backmarkers ahead of the pair anytime soon.

Lap 57: The gap is down to 1.6 seconds between the top-two – Verstappen has picked his pace up slightly but the McLaren is still quicker and Lando Norris tells his mechanic ‘I am pushing as hard as I can’.

Lap 55: Norris has taken another second off Verstappen near enough, as George Russell sets the fastest lap of the race from seventh.

Verstappen is telling his team that his car ‘doesn’t turn’ and also has a pop at Yuki Tsunoda for impeding him saying ‘can he be anymore stupid?’

You can see Norris on the main straight hunting the triple world champion down.

Lap 54: Alex Albon is the first retirement of the race from last place.

But there could be a battle at the front with Norris now just over three seconds behind Verstappen.

Could he challenge the Red Bull driver for the win?

Lap 53: George Russell pits for the second time and rejoins just ahead of Sergio Perez despite the Mexican setting the fastest lap.

Might have just surrendered two points to Lewis Hamilton there, as there is a 22 second gap to his team-mate and if the seven-time champion pits he will be behind Perez.

Russell won’t be best pleased!

Lap 52: Norris is told about Verstappen’s problems with his tyres to which he replies ‘I see, I see, I see’.

On that lap he took four tenths out of the Dutchman.

Lap 51: There’s some action further back as Kevin Magnussen gets past Esteban Ocon for 14th.

Lando Norris has taken another second out of Verstappen.

Verstappen tells his team his ‘tyres don’t work’ but there’s not quite full panic at Red Bull… just yet.

Oscar Piastri is seven seconds behind Leclerc so the Ferrari driver as things stand will be the first for the team to finish on the podium at Imola since Michael Schumacher.

Lap 49: George Russell is struggling in his Mercedes but has a healthy 5.2 second gap to Lewis Hamilton.

Max Verstappen has lost a second to Lando Norris, but perhaps just managing his pace given the advantage he holds.

Lando Norris appears to have second sown up unless Charles Leclerc can find a second burst of pace – with the gap now 2.6 seconds between the pair.

Lap 47: Charles Leclerc cuts across the grass at Variante Alta though it’s not a big loss for the Ferrari driver who only loses half a second.

Sergio Perez appears to have given up and is making no in-roads on Lewis Hamilton with the gap remaining at 29 seconds.

Lap 46: Norris has managed to sneak away with the gap now just over a second thanks to his personal best time of the race.

Oscar Piastri seems to be responding to Carlos Sainz’s pace too.

Meanwhile, there is a pass further back as Lance Stroll gets past Nico Hulkenberg for what is the final points paying position.

He has much fresher tyres than Yuki Tsunoda in ninth so that could be another battle to watch out for.

Lap 44: Leclerc is told he is the fastest man on the track, though not long after Fernando Alonso sets the fastest lap – though the Aston Martin driver wouldn’t get the bonus point as he is well outside the top 10.

Lap 43: Charles Leclerc is now in DRS range of Lando Norris, but he loses time briefly as they come across backmarkers Kevin Magnussen and Zhou Guanyu who have been squabbling for several laps.

Carlos Sainz is also catching Oscar Piastri – taking half a second in the last lap.

Lap 42: Fernando Alonso’s practice session contrinues as he pits from 17th and rejoins 19th – he was regularly challenging for podiums at this point of last season.

Sergio Perez closes in on Yuki Tsunoda out of the final corner and makes light work of the RB driver to move into eighth.

Just the 29 seconds to make up on Lewis Hamilton… with 21 laps to go.

Lap 41: Max Verstappen has a seven second lead over Lando Norris, with Charles Leclerc now just 1.7 behind the Brit after opening a 2.8 gap on Oscar Piastri.

Sergio Perez did get past Daniel Ricciardo very quickly and then Nico Hulkenberg.

He is closing in on Yuki Tsunoda – just six tenths between the pair.

Max VerstappenLando NorrisCharles LeclercOscar PiastriCarlos SainzGeorge RussellLewis HamiltonYuki TsunodaNico HulkenbergSergio PerezDaniel RicciardoValterri BottasLance StrollEsteban OconFernando AlonsoZhou GuanyuKevin MagnussenPierre GaslyLogan SargeantAlex Albon

Lap 38: Sergio Perez is finally in the pits from eighth and he goes onto the medium tyres and rejoins behind Daniel Ricciardo in 11th.

His pace dropped off 1.5 seconds a lap which will be interesting to know for the top drivers on the hard tyres.

Lance Stroll also pitted and is out in 13th, while Kevin Magnussen rejoins in 17th.

Lap 37: Lewis Hamilton jumps ahead of Perez into seventh.

The Mexican driver has no pace on his hard tyres.

Lap 34: Nico Hulkenberg gets DRS off Zhou Guanyu and gets the second advantage as the Chinese driver comes into the pits.

Norris asks his team why he is so much slower than the cars behind him, and he is told they are using more of their tyres, but he is clearly concerned.

Lap 32: Oscar Piastri is now just five tenths behind Charles Leclerc in the battle for third.

Not seen by the cameras, Lewis Hamilton has overtaken Lance Stroll for eight place.

Also a Fernando Alonso update for you, he is 17th, so his pre-race prediction of no points looks spot on as things stand.

Albon is having all sorts of problems in 20th and has now had four stops including his 10 second penalty.

Lap 31: Oscar Piastri is told degradation is higher on all cars than expected, but like Leclerc, is still on Plan B rather than Plan C.

George Russell is the next to pass Sergio Perez who realistically is in a fight with Daniel Ricciardo for the final point. Ricciardo is currently 15th though several drivers in front of him are still to pit.

Lap 30: Carlos Sainz goes down the inside of Sergio Perez into Tamburello into fifth and the Tifosi liked that one.

That disastrous Ferrari strategy though has left him 6.5 seconds behind Oscar Piastri – who holds the fastest lap for the extra point as things stand.

Lap 28: Lewis Hamilton’s issue a few laps back is explained as he has a driver error and runs through the gravel, no surprise he pitted straight after.

Meanwhile there is some excellent racing in mid-field as Yuki Tsunoda finally passes Logan Sargeant round the outside of the opening chicane, before Nico Hulkenberg follows him through.

Lap 27: Leclerc passes Perez and Piastri quickly follows him through. Piastri has gone from battling Sainz to now chasing Leclerc with just one second between the pair.

That’s the battle for the final step of the podium.

In comes Sainz and Hamilton meanwhile with the Ferrari driver not surprisingly losing his place to Piastri and is out behind Perez.

Hamilton meanwhile feeds out in ninth behind Lance Strolll.

Lap 26: Lando Norris on the previous lap set the fastest lap while Oscar Piastri flew past Lance Stroll for seventh and is now after Sergio Perez.

The Ferrari strategy doesn’t seem to have worked as Leclerc pits, and his front right is a little slow going on and he rejoins just behind Perez.

But surely Sainz will lose out to Piastri who is setting incredibly rapid lap times.

Sainz and his engineers have been caught napping.

There’s a slow Lewis Hamilton! It looks like he might have been off track.

Lap 25: Max Verstappen pits from the lead and he is out in fourth!

Meanwhile, the Ferraris have stayed out and they are 1-2, though the McLaren’s are flying!

Lap 24: Oscar Piastri is next in while there is a ten second stop go penalty for Alex Albon after he joined the track with his wheel not fully secured.

Down the main straight, Lando Norris gets past Sergio Perez which is a huge move as he is only slowed down for one lap by the second Red Bull.

Lap 23: Lando Norris pits from second with a 2.4 second stop and he rejoins behind Sergio Perez! That could prove costly.

How do Ferrari react to this?

George Russell gets past Ocon, so he shows that Norris can make a move but that Red Bull is quicker than the Alpine.

Lap 22: A 2.4 second stop for Mercedes and the Brit rejoins the race in tenth – not far behind the Alpine driver of Esteban Ocon.

Not great news for Russell unless he can work a way past the Frenchman quickly.

Lap 21: Max Verstappen makes a minor mistake as he goes through the Variante Alta coming very close to the bollards – he doesn’t want to make the same mistake from Miami!

Meanwhile there is some action in the battle for 13th with Yuki Tsunoda on the back of Logan Sargeant, who unlike the RB driver, has not pitted.

Verstappen meanwhile reports his left front tyre ‘is not good’,

Lap 20: No signs of any mechanics for the front-running teams as yet.

Lando Norris is now six seconds behind Max Verstappen, with the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc continuing to keep the pressure on the McLaren.

Lap 18: Sergio Perez’s disastrous weekend continues as he loses five seconds to Hamilton ahead of him with a trip through the gravel.

He is hoping to take those hard tyres a long way but that won’t help his cause.

Lap 17: Ferrari have got their list of plans out and Charles Leclerc is told he is on Plan B.

Could this mean an attempted undercut on Lando Norris who is 1.8 seconds ahead of him?

Lap 16: Oscar Piastri is finding it hard to follow Carlos Sainz on this fast flowing circuit. It could be in the pit-stops that the Australian has his best chance.

Meanwhile, George Russell is about 2.4 seconds behind Piastri, with Hamilton a further 1.9 back. Perez in his Red Bull on slow hard tyres is 10 seconds behind the seven-time world champion.

Lap 15: For those wanting a Lando Norris update, it’s not positive in terms of his race win chances.

He is 5 seconds behind the Dutchman, and in fact, it is Charles Leclerc who is giving him more trouble – with just 1.2 seconds between the p

Lap 14: Nico Hulkenberg responds to Yuki Tsunoda’s stop and he comes out side-by-side with the Japanese driver!

And it’s Tsunoda who benefits from the undercut to get ahead of the German.

Lap 13: In comes Yuki Tsunoda from ninth and it is a pretty good stop to rejoin in the gap in front of Ricciardo.

Don’t know what his equivalent of Hammer Time is, but it’s a golden opportunity to jump those ahead of him.

Alonso’s bad weekend got worse in his pit-stop a few laps ago, as he has a slow stop and the brakes catch fire for a brief moment on his way out.

Lap 11: Albon has come in for his second stop. Replays of his first stop don’t show any signs of concern from Williams, but he certainly felt something on his out-lap.

Meanwhile there is a battle for fourth as Carlos Sainz has to drive in the middle of the road to defend from Oscar Piastri.

Daniel Ricciardo comes into the pits from 11th and is out in 16th in some nice bit of free air – something those ahead of him might be tempted by.

Lap 10: The race leaders fly up to the back of Albon who is snailing it around the circuit to get back into the pits.

He goes over the chicane and does well to get out of the way of the leaders.

Oscar Piastri is five tenths behind Carlos Sainz and the Spaniard feels the pressure.

Lap 9: Also in the pits are Valterri Bottas and Alex Albon – and the latter is going very slow!

He comes on the radio and he reports his tyres are not on properly!

Lap 8: Fernando Alonso pits to throw those soft tyres in the bin.

He perhaps hoped there would be an early safety car but it hasn’t worked out that way and he is now some 30 seconds off the back of the field.

Sainz on the radio now says he ‘can’t shake Piastri off’.

Lap 7: Max Verstappen now has a 1.8 second lead over Lando Norris.

Carlos Sainz meanwhile says the McLaren is fast, perhaps some concerns for Ferrari over beating Norris this afternoon.

Max VerstappenLando NorrisCharles LeclercCarlos SainzOscar PiastriGeorge RussellLewis HamiltonNico HulkenbergYuki TsunodaSergio Perez

Lap 4: Max Verstappen is out of DRS range with a 1.4 second lead.

Sergio Perez after moving up to 10th has not made any in-roads on Yuki Tsunoda ahead of him.

Oscar Piastri meanwhile is putting pressure on Carlos Sainz for fourth.

Lap 3: Max Verstappen appears to be quicker in the first part of the track, with Norris having the edge in the final sector to keep the Dutchman in range.

No change for Alonso at the back yet having started in the pit-lane.

Lap 2: Max Verstappen already putting some good pace in and is eight tenths ahead of Lando Norris, who is a further second ahead of the first Ferrari of Charles Leclerc.

Pierre Gasly on the softs puts in the quickest lap on Lap 2, he is on the soft tyres so watch out for him in these early stages.

Side-by-side are Stroll and Ocon up the hill and it’s the Alpine driver who wins out.

Everyone at the front giving each other room and the winner of the start is Lewis Hamilton who is seventh behind his team-mate and ahead of Nico Hulkenberg, Yuki Tsunoda and Sergio Perez.

Even start from the front two but Verstappen has the inside line to keep the lead from Norris and the two Ferrari drivers.

Everyone starts on the medium tyres except for Sergio Perez on the hards, with Pierre Gasly and Fernando Alonso on the softs.

Expect a one-stop strategy from drivers in today’s race.

Red smoke is pouring out from the grandstands from the Tifosi who are hoping for a Ferrari win.

The last time McLaren won consecutive races was 12 years ago when Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button took victories in the United States and Brazil.

Max Verstappen meanwhile has not lost back-to-back races since the Britsh and Austrian Grand Prix in 2022 – won by Ferrari pair Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc.

Watch out for Yuki Tsunoda in his RB – one of the stars of qualifying yesterday to split up the two Mercedes.

Also Nico Hulkenberg has been flying in his Haas and expect a fierce battle with him and Daniel Ricciardo in the second RB at the start with the pair starting 9th and 10th.

McLaren team prinicipal Zak Brown has told Sky Sports;

I think the top five cars can win today. Fortunately we’ve got two in the top five.

We put Oscar at a bit of a disadvantage by getting the strategy bit wrong, which is unfortunate, but I think we have two fast race cars surrounded by three or four other fast race cars, so I think we’re going to see a great race today.’

Fernando Alonso is 19th on the grid and he has told Sky Sports that he expects today to be a ‘learning session’ and ‘doesn’t expect to get any points’.

The Imola circuit is notoriously difficult to overtake on so he might just have a point.

Alonso will be starting from the pit-lane after making some changes overnight under parc-ferme conditions. Might as well if you’re starting on the last row!

Max Verstappen extended his lead at the top of the standings in Miami, despite losing out to Lando Norris.

He holds a 33 point lead over team-mate Sergio Perez, with 20 points covering the Mexican, Charles Leclerc, Lando Norris and Carlos Sainz.

Max Verstappen – 136Sergio Perez – 103Charles Leclerc – 98Lando Norris – 83Carlos Sainz – 83Oscar Piastri – 41George Russell – 37Fernando Alonso – 33Lewis Hamilton – 27Yuki Tsunoda – 14

Sebastian Vettel took Ayrton Senna’s old McLaren for a spin quite literally!

Lewis Hamilton received a warm reaction from the Italian crowd – something he can definitely expect when he makes the switch to Ferrari in 2025.

The Tifosi – a term used to describe Ferrari’s passionate fans – are excited to see the seven-time champion wear Red next season.

Hamilton on his tour around the track before today’s race said;

I need to improve my Italian, but I’m very excited! The tifosi have supported me for a long time, but now I definitely feel their energy more. It will be a dream to be here next year.’

Lando Norris has told Sky Sports;

We’ve continued the good run of form, good pace, good qualifying, and today we need to prove that we’ve got good race pace.

We had a fairly strong indication on Friday that the pace was very good, so I’m excited, I would love if it could cool down just a little bit, that would play into our hands a touch more, but things are looking good and we are in a good position. I think we can bring the fight to Max ahead.’

Max VerstappenLando NorrisCharles LeclercCarlos SainzOscar PiastriGeorge RussellYuki TsunodaLewis HamiltonDaniel RicciardoNico HulkenbergSergio PerezEsteban OconLance StrollAlex AlbonPierre GaslyValterri BottasZhou GuanyuKevin MagnussenFernando AlonsoLogan Sargeant

The sound of Formula One cars revving their engines has begun, as the 20 drivers start making their way to the grid.

Lando Norris finally got off the mark in Formula One with his victory in the excellent Miami Grand Prix.

While he did get fortunate during a safety car period, he pulled away from Max Verstappen and won the race on merit with a brilliant drive.

And what an opportunity he has in front of him this afternoon!

The penalty to his team-mate Oscar Piastri has provided a huge boost by pushing him up to the front row, and he will be determined to get the jump on his good friend Verstappen at the start to take the lead.

If he can strike again, could we potentially talk about him being a title contender?

Believe it or not, there were expectations going into qualifying that Max Verstappen would not be on pole position!

The Dutchman had struggled in the three practice sessions but set a blistering pace in qualifying to take his eighth straight pole – a joint record in Formula One history alongside the great Ayrton Senna.

However, it was close at the top with Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris close behind in the two McLarens, however the Australian received a three-place grid penalty for impeding Kevin Magnussen in Q1 – relegating him behind his team-mate and the two Ferraris.

It was more disappointment for Mercedes, with George Russell sixth and Lewis Hamilton eighth.

But the two big losers of qualifying were Sergio Perez and Fernando Alonso, who crashed in the morning practice session and could only place themselves 11th and 20th on the grid respectively.

The race pace of that McLaren, as Norris showed in Miami, is very impressive and something Verstappen will need to be wary of this afternoon.

And welcome to Mail Sport’s live blog for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.

We will be bringing you all the updates and lap-by-lap action from lights out at 2pm.

Max Verstappen is on pole from Lando Norris, can the Brit in his McLaren upset the odds for the second race in a row?

Also what can Oscar Piastri do from fifth? He qualified second but received a three-place penalty which gives him an uphill challenge this afternoon.